Google Looking To Launch Subscription Music Service This Year

Google appears to be working hard at making 2013 one of the biggest years in its history. The company recently unveiled the touchscreen Chromebook in the Pixel.

Google also just verified that Google Glass will finally become a reality by the end of 2013. Those two announcements alone would be enough for one company to hang its hat on most years.

Instead, Google is going for the gold if recent reports are true. The Financial Times is reporting that Google is looking to take on several rivals with the launch of its own subscription music service.

This subscription service would be in direct competition with services like Spotify and Deezer and would directly insert Google into an industry that is only growing.

Moving into the music business would allow Google to continue to move away from advertising revenue into other avenues. Advertising still accounts for about 95 percent of the company’s total revenue.

Google has extensive ties to the music industry thanks to the previous launch of its music download service through Google Play. It would only take a couple of new contracts to get the subscription service up and running.

Just how soon this subscription service would actually go live is up for debate. While some sites are claiming that the launch is imminent, The Verge says there little chance it will be available before the third quarter of 2013.

The roadblock in this kind of service and what could eventually slow the process down, is that the music industry doesn’t believe Google does enough to combat piracy.

The music and movie industries are obviously the top victims of piracy and those companies may not be quite to jump into this kind of an agreement with Google if they think it will hurt their bottom lines even more.

Google has often defended itself by saying that it is quick to act whenever it gets a “take down notice.”